You've asked and waited...and now here it is.

Chapter 1: At the Beginning

I speak the truth,
I dare not tell a lie,
One child is in fits,
The other child dies,
Now the yellow bird sits upon her finger,
The yellow bird a specter lost to linger,

God Hates - The Lords of Salem,
No can ever save them,
God Hates - The Lords of Salem,
No one can destroy them,

-

The fire in front of him crackled loudly, its orange flames bathing the surrounding room in a pale, amber, glow and reflecting briefly in the dark eyes of the man who sat an arm's length away.

His eyes were emotionless and unmoving as he watched the flames dance and crackle, his fingers wrapped loosely around a wooden glass. He raised the glass to his lips and downed the harsh, bitter alcohol it contained. It stung the inside of his throat as it did so; it was rare when he drank, so he never developed a fondness of the taste. He never considered his life difficult enough to do so. To the villagers he was a simple farmer who kept to himself and lived off his land and to the ones who knew him best, the ones who cast him out, knew him as nothing more then a monster.

(Monster…)

He rolled the word around inside of his head a few times, as he took another drink. The word amused him greatly. It seemed…fitting. Of course, the Covenant would view him as a monster; he was the only one of them who embraced what he was. He didn't hide himself from the village as they did; he enjoyed being among the villagers and watching them crawl through the meager existence they dared to call 'life'. But most of all, he was the only member of the Covenant who dared who use his gift, his power, openly.

The question was would he dare use it tonight?

He set the glass down on the table once more and raised his head, gazing into the open doorway across from him. Even though the room was covered in darkness, as was the rest of the cabin where the light from the fire couldn't reach, his eyes could make out the still body lying in his bed clear as day. The boy had bid him goodnight not too long ago under the impression that he would soon join him, but little did he know the former Covenant member had other intentions.

As he stared at the figure in the darkness, he made his decision.

John Putnam sighed softly and with a push of his foot, he slid the chair away from the table. He moved silently through the room, keeping his footsteps light as he entered the dark bedroom. The boy was fast asleep, the deep blue eyes Putnam never grew tired of staring into lightly closed, and his breathing was soft. The wool blankets were nestled around his bare waist, and Putnam pulled them up to the boy's shoulder as he leaned over the bed.

"That man will pay for what he's done." John whispered into the boy's ear while placing a light kiss on the boy's shoulder. "I swear it."

Putnam then rose to his feet and left the room just as silently as he had entered, aware of the unforgivable sin he would commit before the night was through. If he were deemed a monster by his brothers, then he would become one. There was, after all, a fine line between murder and retribution and he would gladly walk its edges into the depths of hell for the boy resting in his bed.

With one more glance into the bedroom over his shoulder, John Putnam pulled his cloak from its post and pulled open the cabin's front door, throwing the dark cloth around his shoulders as he departed into the cold night.

-

Do you think they suffered,

Up on Gallows Hill?

Burn me and hang me,

And I always will,

Tumble like a swine,

A victim of the fury,

Glory to the saint,

Before you start to bury,

God Hates - The Lords of Salem,

No can ever save them,

God Hates - The Lords of Salem,

No one can destroy them

-Rob Zombie, "The Lords Of Salem"